Wanna go active but have a few questions first

[jadon087 10+ year member]

Okay guys i want to go with an active setup for my frontstage setup because of the great reviews and money that can be saved instead of running 2 passive sets. I wanna do the full frontstage which includes all 4 doors of a ford explorer either 6.5 or 7 inch. I will deaden them with rammat too.

my amp would be Memphis MCA5004 specs:

# Full MOSFET Design

# Built-In Fully Variable High/Low Pass Crossovers

# User Selectable 12dB or 18dB Per Octave Crossover Slope

# RCA Bypass Output

# Platinum Finish Wire Connections

# Accepts 4 Gauge Power and Ground Wire

# 4-Channel MClass Series Amplifier

# Aluminum Chassis with Custon Black Pearl Finish

# Gold Plated RCA Connectors

# Full MOSFET Design

# Fully Variable Crossover: HP/LP (40 Hz - 6 kHz)

# 4-Way Protection Circuitry

# Platinum Finish Wire Connections

# Accepts 4 Gauge Power and Ground Wire

# Optional Wired Remote Gain Control

# Adjustable Input Sensitivity: 250mV - 5V

# Dimensions: 25.81" L x 7.6" W x 2.4" H

# Number of Channels 4

# RMS Power (4 ohms) 125 watts x 4 chan.

# RMS Power (2 ohms) 250 watts x 4 chan.

# Total RMS Power @ 2 ohms: 1000 Watts

# Min. Impedance Unbridged 2 ohms

# Min. Impedance Bridged 4 ohms

# THD @ Rated RMS Power 0.03%

# Built-in Crossover HP (40 Hz - 6 kHz), LP (40 Hz - 6 kHz)

# Signal-to-Noise Ratio 92 dB

# Fuse Rating 30A x 3

First question is could you recommend mids and tweets wanna keep it under 500 or so for all 4 doors. i did search and saw the Peerless exclusive 7 inch and seas neo alum tweets 1 inch were the most highly recommended so thats probably what i will go for, unless there are any other suggestion.

Another question i have is can i go active off a carputer in dash or would i need to buy active crossovers, or could i use the x overs from the amp? Also if i need to buy an x-over r there any recommendations?

Thanks in advance and hopefully i wont get flamed because i have said something wrong or not been specific enough.

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[msimon 10+ year member]

Just FYI, "frontstage" is usually considered only the speakers actually in front of you, so doing all four doors is a little beyond "frontstage". That being said, to do all four doors and a sub you are going to need 9 channels of amplification, one for every driver that you use. So that four channel amplifier that you have listed isn't going to cut it. You could use a carputer but only if it has some sort of active x-over software and at least 3 preouts. Otherwise you will need an external 3-way active x-over of some kind. Regardless of whether you use the carputer or an external x-over you are going to need to use y-adapters to get the 9 channels that you require for your setup, out of the 5 or 6 channels that your x-over will give you. Overall this setup is a very complex one and not necessarily the best way to start off with your first active setup. The main thing that you need to do is research and make sure that you fully understand everything that you will need for your setup. Good luck!

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

k thanks man i understand now and yeah sorry about the frontstage thing i see wat you mean so i would be better off doing just the front two doors and using that amp to power them and putting a good set of mids in the back well you just answered everything for me. thanks.

 

[crow 10+ year member]

Just a thought, but the specs on the 5004 show adjustable high pass and low pass crossovers up to 6khz. Since many newer head units have simple crossovers built in you could combine one with the amp for a fully active setup. Essentially, you high pass the tweeter and low pass the midrange using the amplifiers crossovers, then high pass the midrange and low pass the subwoofer using the head unit. It will not be as easy to set up and tune as a dedicated crossover or processor but it is workable if you are on a tight budget.

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

Just a thought, but the specs on the 5004 show adjustable high pass and low pass crossovers up to 6khz. Since many newer head units have simple crossovers built in you could combine one with the amp for a fully active setup. Essentially, you high pass the tweeter and low pass the midrange using the amplifiers crossovers, then high pass the midrange and low pass the subwoofer using the head unit. It will not be as easy to set up and tune as a dedicated crossover or processor but it is workable if you are on a tight budget.

hum yeah ill probably go ahead and get 2 4 channel amps to make it easier on my self one for the tweets another for the mids, and then my sub amp and use the hu to crossover each would this work?

 

[MiniVanMan 10+ year member]

There's a site dedicated to active tuning if you're interested. It's http://www.diymobileaudio.com Lot's of good information there.

Now to your questions. Like a previous poster mentioned you can use the Memphis amp for most of your crossover needs.

You have several options here.

First. If you have a head unit that has a variable high pass crossover in the 80 hz range, then do what the above poster said. It will also give you many more options on drivers you can select.

Next option is, if you don't have said head unit, then you can run a mid high passed only, and let it roll off naturally, where it will blend with the tweeter. There aren't many mids that can do this without some kind of breakup node to worry about, but the first one that comes to mind is the Seas CA18RNX. Very stout driver, with great midbass, low distortion, etc. A very common tweeter that gets matched with this driver is the LPG.

If you're new to active tuning, the above setup is a GREAT start. Both drivers are very nice, and the CA18RNX is very, very easy to work with.

 

[MiniVanMan 10+ year member]

Oh, and just worry about your front doors. If properly set up, all you need is just the fronts.

Do you have a head unit yet?

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

Okay so ill just go with frontstage, but you have any ideas what i should do for rear fill, because i would like some rear fill also maybe off the hu or a 2 channel amp i guess. Also i am in the process of building a carputer i would most likely be using a low end pioneer,eclipse, or alpine for the rcas for the carputer.

Let me know how this looks?

mids:

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=45_228_256&products_id=1604

tweets:

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=628

amp:

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=5531

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

minivan you still here

 

[MiniVanMan 10+ year member]

Go over to diymobileaudio. There are a couple of guys over there that use carputers for their active setups. There are soundcards and software that make it possible.

As for your speaker selection, it looks good.

If you do rear fill, head unit power is usually preferred, but you can use a small amp if you like as well. Nothing over 35 watts RMS though. You can use a full range driver as well.

Something like this would work well for rear fill.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-828

They have decent midbass capability, and a smooth response. They should be relatively transparent in a rear fill capacity.

You definitely want to stay away from a bright high end that will detract, and pull your stage to the rear of the vehicle.

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

Go over to diymobileaudio. There are a couple of guys over there that use carputers for their active setups. There are soundcards and software that make it possible.
As for your speaker selection, it looks good.

If you do rear fill, head unit power is usually preferred, but you can use a small amp if you like as well. Nothing over 35 watts RMS though. You can use a full range driver as well.

Something like this would work well for rear fill.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-828

They have decent midbass capability, and a smooth response. They should be relatively transparent in a rear fill capacity.

You definitely want to stay away from a bright high end that will detract, and pull your stage to the rear of the vehicle.

lol i just pmed you, okay thanks man i appreciate the help you just saved me money and time.

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

okay i narrowed it down for my active setup guys tell me how this sounds

Hu: Carputer with Good Sound card/w Alpine 9857 or 9885

Frontstage:

Peerless Exclusive 7 inch mids crossed at (80-150 hz)

Seas 27AFNC/G (H1397) 1" aluminum dome tweeter

Memphis MCA5004 125 x 4 at 4 ohm

Rear Fill:

Seas ca18rnx mids (rolling naturally)

Memphis MCA150: 74 x 2 at 4 ohm

substage,(not relevant but oh well):

2 15 or 18 inch Rd audio Aplphas

Memphis 4kw

Any suggestions?

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

no comments

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Awful lot of sub to try to match up with any front stage.

 

[jadon087 10+ year member]

Awful lot of sub to try to match up with any front stage.

yeah i'm hoping this will keep up